1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope having a battery that supplies electric power.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Medical diagnoses using an electronic endoscope are widely performed. The electronic endoscope has a built-in imaging device such as a CCD at a front end of an insertion section, which is inserted into a body cavity. A processor device applies signal processing to the imaging signals obtained with the CCD, and the image inside of the body cavity (endoscopic image) can be observed on a monitor.
As one type of the electronic endoscopes, there is a so-called battery-powered electronic endoscope having a battery that supplies electric power (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.2001-166222). The battery-powered electronic endoscope described in the above publication is provided with a charging circuit for changing the battery, a counter for counting the number of charging of the battery, and a voltage detector for detecting the remaining battery power. The counted number of charging and the detected remaining power are displayed by an LED provided on the battery or on an LCD panel.
The electronic endoscope is provided with various operation switches, such as a freeze switch for directing photographing/recording of a still image and a VCR switch for directing recording of the endoscopic image with a VCR. In actual endoscopic diagnoses, an operator observes the endoscopic image displayed on the monitor while operating these operation switches with one hand.
It is often the case that a plurality of electronic endoscopes are placed in a treatment room of the hospitals and used by different operators for different purposes depending on which region inside the body cavity is inspected or which operator uses the endoscope. Therefore, when the operation switch is fixed to one function as usual, it is sometimes inconvenient depending on the region to be inspected or the operator.
In order to solve the above problem, an electronic endoscope provided with a plurality of interchangeable operation switches, which can fit to any of a plurality of attachment portions, is proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.2003-275162). In addition, an electronic endoscope provided with a rotary switch for setting/changing the function of the operation switch as intended is proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.2003-275174).
In the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.2001-166222, however, it is assumed that the electronic endoscope uses one battery. Therefore, the electronic endoscope cannot accurately detect the remaining battery power when used with several batteries exchanged thereon.
In the electronic endoscope disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.2003-275162, it is troublesome to remove and change the operation switches, and there is a risk that the operation switch may be lost when removed from the attachment portion. In the electronic endoscope disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.2003-275174, a space for providing the rotary switch is required, so there is a problem that the article becomes large in dimension. Additionally, the combination of the operation switch and the function capable of being set and changed is limited.